Superstorm Sandy descends on the East Coast

After ripping up the Caribbean, Hurricane Sandy has moved up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, combining with a couple of winter storm fronts to create a “superstorm” that is already wreaking havoc.

Authorities along the coastline and inland are frantically preparing for the worst, including ordering the evacuations of hundreds of thousands of residents in low-lying areas.

Still, gawkers can’t help but head for the coast to check out the big waves and pounding surf.

This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 shows Hurricane Sandy off the Mid Atlantic coastline moving toward the north with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. Hurricane Sandy wheeled toward land as forecasters feared Monday, raking cities along the Northeast corridor with rain and wind gusts, flooding shore towns, washing away a section of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, and threatening to cripple Wall Street and New York’s subway system with a huge surge of corrosive seawater. (AP Photo/NOAA)

Sailboats rock in choppy water at a dock along the Hudson River Greenway during a storm, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing for higher ground, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Furticella)

Lisa Famularo braces for impact as a large wave crashes over a seawall while she photographed heavy surf in the Atlantic Ocean during the early stages of Hurricane Sandy, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Kennebunk, Maine. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Pedestrian who try to cover from the rain try to control his umbrella from the heavy wins in Baltimore downtown as Hurricane Sandy approach in the coast of Maryland, on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Storm surge hits a small tree as winds from Hurricane Sandy reach Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Water from Long Island Sound spilled into roadways and towns along the Connecticut shoreline Monday, the first signs of flooding from a storm that threatens to deliver a devastating surge of seawater. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

A motorist drives through a flooded road along the Atlantic Ocean during the early stages of Hurricane Sandy, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Kennebunk, Maine. The hurricane continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A warning sign displays a directive near downtown Philadelphia ahead of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)

Sandbags are placed in front of No. 2 Broadway in Battery Park in preparation of the storm, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in New York. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas Sunday as big cities and small towns across the U.S. Northeast braced for the onslaught of a superstorm threatening some 60 million people along the most heavily populated corridor in the nation. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

Gozde Guldosuren stocks up on bread at a Manhattan grocery store, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in New York. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas Sunday as big cities and small towns across the U.S. Northeast braced for the onslaught of a superstorm threatening some 60 million people along the most heavily populated corridor in the nation. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

A woman covers her ears while posing for a photograph as her hair blows in the wind at the waterfront in Hoboken, N.J., as the Hudson River begins to rise and flood the area with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Pedestrians huddle under their umbrellas in Times Square, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo)

A maintenance worker named Vitto attaches plywood to a sidewalk grate at the 2 Broadway building of Lower Manhattan in New York, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, as a child walking by takes advantage of the temporary structure. Areas along the Northeast Coast are preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy and a possible flooding storm surge. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Waves crash over the bow of a tug boat as it passes near the Statue of Liberty in New York Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 as rough water as the result of Hurricane Sandy churned the waters of New York Harbor. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Ron Croker, left, and Tim Wood, move a jet ski on wheels to a safer location as water floods the dock, as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Ocean City, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Adam Howard works to clean the inside of Bubba’s restaurant on the water in Virginia Beach, Va., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Rain and wind from Hurricane Sandy flooded the business at high tide. About 630 members of the Virginia National Guard are getting ready to respond across the state to help with recovery operations related to Hurricane Sandy. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Ocean waves kick up near homes along Peggoty Beach in Scituate, Mass. Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Terry Robinson retrieves some belongings from his flooded trailer at RV Park in Kitty Hawk, N.C., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, after flooding from Hurricane Sandy left many roads impassable while localized flooding from a storm surge forced some people from their homes. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Homeowner Raymond Gara, left, and another man looks on as a tree sits on his house on Raubsville Road after strong storm winds brought on by Hurricane Sandy took it down, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Williams Township, Pa. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing for higher ground, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/The Express-Times, Matt Smith)

Rough surf of the Atlantic Ocean breaks over the beach and across Beach Ave., Monday morning, Oct. 29, 2012, in Cape May, N.J., as high tide and Hurricane Sandy begin to arrive. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

John Constantine makes his way out of his house after winds from Hurricane Sandy toppled a tree fell onto it in Andover, Mass. Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

U.S. Fuel gas station store manager Tsewang Guyrme, of Phillipsburg, N.J., wraps one of his newly installed Mobil gas tanks with bubble and shrink wrap, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, to protect them from possible flying debris in Phillipsburg. His station on Memorial Parkway is converting to a Mobil gas station. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing for higher ground, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/The Express-Times, Lisa Massey)

New Bedford, Mass., firefighters survey damage caused when high winds generated by Hurricane Sandy toppled a chimney through a skylight and into the kitchen of an apartment in New Bedford Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. The apartments were evacuated, and no one was injured. (AP Photo/The Standard-Times, Peter Pereira)

A downed limb lies in a flooded street as Hurricane Sandy approaches, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Center Moriches, N.Y. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

People brave high winds and blowing sand as they watch the rising surf at Coney Island Beach in the Brooklyn borough of New York as Hurricane Sandy arrives, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

A person takes a photograph of the Hudson River as gusty winds bend trees, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Hoboken, N.J. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Matt Dayhoff started as a photographer for the Journal Star in 1992 shortly after graduating from the Ohio University School of Visual Communications. In 2009, he moved into the newsroom as an online editor and producer and is now responsible for helping manage and edit much of the editorial content on pjstar.com.